Thirteen
by Pinklove21
Summary: Neither Katniss or Peeta were reaped for the 74th Hunger Games and now there's the 'original' twist for the QQ because I don't believe it was the real card in the books . This is a K/G story and it will likely be a fiveshot. Enjoy!
1. The Reaping

"And on the occasion of the 75th annual Hunger Games, the third Quarter Quell," President Snow reads, with a flourish bringing the untouched card for the new twisted horror he will reveal for the next Games on our dingy television screen in our tiny Seam home, the electricity crystal clear for once, "Because thirteen districts rebelled, all tributes will be the age of thirteen."

…what? I freeze in place, letting this sink in. Thirteen…oh my god, Prim. At thirteen years old she can far more easily be reaped in this horrible twist even with only two measly slips of paper. I at the age of seventeen won't be able to save her. I'm not allowed in these Games. And as she freezes in place too, realizing what this means, I hug her and push back my own fear; for her. Because she can't know that I fear for her so much and I could never do anything about it. It's horrible.

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"You saw the announcement for the Quarter Quell?" Gale asks me quietly on the very next day I see him, a few days after the reading of the card. I only get to see him on Sundays now; it's the only day he has off from those horrible mines. I've never told him that I have just as many nightmares about him having the same fate as both of our fathers did in that dark place because he probably has the same anyway.

"How could I not?" I grimace. After all, it was mandatory. Besides the fact that I've thought of very little else since. He just nods in response and stares out at the mountainous area that our rock allows us to see in silence and I follow his lead. I somehow yearn for his wildly ridiculous yet tempting offer from last year on reaping day to run away. I know we could do it, but I also know that it's an incredibly stupid idea still. Maybe when we're all out of reaping age it would work, but that's so far away. Posy's only five years old after all and I don't see Panem getting any better in the next thirteen years we would have to wait for her. But it's such a risk and Prim could die because we could get caught. Just like that couple we found a few years back, the boy being speared and the girl taken up by a hovercraft to some unknown fate. I wouldn't wish either of that on any of us.

"They'll be alright. They only have two slips and there is still probably hundreds." Gale predicts with a frown, clearly trying to convince himself just as much as me but not really doing a good job at either. It's horrible but it's at this point that I remember that Rory is thirteen too. And Gale at the age of nineteen and could never save him again even if he wanted to like I normally could save Prim must be draining on him. It's one thing for them to have two slips each in a bowl of thousands; it's quite another for it to be two in a bowl that could be little more than one hundred.

"Yeah." I decide to humor him, though it comes out flat and unhopeful. Well, neither of us are optimists anyway, so I guess it's unsurprising. All that's left to do is wait. Worry and wait.

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"It'll be fine little duck. Just like every other year." I promise Prim with a smile that doesn't quite reach my eyes. I'm trying so hard to keep her from worrying more than she already is but it's difficult. She knows the odds and she's growing up; I'm doing it as much for her as myself.

"I know." She claims but she doesn't seem to entirely believe it either. I need to do better.

"Hey, you were so worried last year and nothing happened, right?" I remind her and she nods. "Well it's all the same."

"Alright." Prim smiles a little, and with I take her hand in mine to lead her to the square. Our mother takes her other one and when we arrive we both hug her for dear life and find the Hawthornes minus Rory already waiting in the crowd. My mother goes to stand by Hazelle and I go right next to Gale. He automatically takes my hand in his with our eyes connected, the pain and worry matching in our similar grey eyes. While there's never been anything romantic between us I know that this is just what we both need and entwine our fingers together, squeezing his hand lightly.

As we hear a noise from the microphone to get everyone's attention we both turn our heads towards the stage and for the first time I physically see how incredibly wrong this is. With only thirteen year olds to be reaped, a group of no more than one hundred if that in each of the two roped off areas, one for boys and one for girls, you can easily sense the unease all around, not just in the pins for those poor barely teenagers awaiting their fate which is in the perfectly manicured hands of our escort, Effie Trinket.

As the mayor drones on with his first speech, I somehow with my hunter's sense feel eyes on me. Looking to my mother and the Hawthornes first, I can tell all of them are at least facing the stage even if they really aren't paying attention at all, more likely than not just praying or hoping that Prim and Rory will be safe. If it's not them then who is it? I know I can feel something looking at me, it's like a sixth sense. Subtly glancing around while appearing to be intently watching the stage and just fidgeting, I scan the crowd. Out of the corner of my eye I find someone looking at me but as soon as I glance that way their head turns, but not soon enough for me to not catch the blonde head that is now intently looking at the stage and listening to the mayor like it's their job, his muscles tense despite trying to look like he's relaxing.

Peeta Mellark was looking at me? And why is he listening so intently, he has no one to worry about; I know he's the youngest of the baker's children and Peeta is my age. I wonder what-

"Ladies first." Effie Trinket's voice in her ridiculous Capitol accent rings out cheerfully, effectively snapping me out of any thoughts I was having about Peeta Mellark and what on earth he was doing. Not Prim. Not Prim. Please not Prim. Believe in your own words Katniss; she only has two slips. There are hundreds in there after all.

"Primrose Everdeen."

…huh? But that…no. No. No! I scream inside my head but all that comes out is a choking sound as my mouth drops open. In my head I'm screaming that I volunteer for her, that I have to take her place, but I can't. I'm not thirteen years old in this horrible twist of a Quarter Quell and I can't save her. I can't…

As Prim steals herself to walk up to the stage I feel my knees collapsing in lost hope, but something catches me and holds me up though I'm nowhere near steady. He doesn't say anything because there's nothing to say; he knows how awful this is because he feels it to; after all, Prim is like a little sister to him just as much as Rory and Vick and little Posy are siblings to me. Instead of apologizing or shushing me before I scream out like I want to, he simply wraps his steady arms around my waist to keep me upright while I bury my head in my hands. But I can't cry; not yet anyway. Everyone is surly looking at me and my mother with pity, with horrible, horrible pity. So if Prim can steal herself to get up on that stage, I can at least look strong for her.

Glancing up to the stage I find her ascending the steps and I feel unsteady again but I know I can't fall with Gale holding me up. My hands are shaking though so I grip his arms that are already keeping me up and press my lips into a fine line, willing myself not to cry. Not yet.

I can cry when I'm all alone, drowning in my pain and misery that my little sister is being sent to her death.

**So if you've read my AMN trilogy, you obviously can see where I got my inspiration for this QQ from. This will be a three or four shot, and I'll try to update every day until it's complete. Hope you like it so far!**


	2. The Quell

Kat and Mother already said goodbye to me. They tried to be strong for me, they really did, but I could tell that neither really were. Mother wasn't even trying not to cry, but she didn't sob or anything as she held me to here for what is probably the last time. Tears just rolled down her cheeks and I could feel them go into my hair as I wiped my own tears on her. Kat wasn't crying but I know she really wanted to. She held me and focused on telling me what I could do, my apothecary skills could help me in the arena because I could fix myself. I didn't say the obvious that I don't know how to hunt for food, let alone _kill_ anyone or anything. She knows this as well as I do so I don't promise her that I'll win. It hurts, but I don't see how. The only advantage I can see is that there aren't any kids older than me since we're all thirteen, but that doesn't mean they aren't _bigger_ than me.

The only thing I make them promise to me is that they will be there for each other. Kat has really been the one who was like a mother to me since Dad died in that horrible mining accident but once Mother came back she was my mother again. But not Kat's. Not really. I don't think Kat every truly forgave her. But if this is my last wish for them then I want it to happen. I don't want me being gone to make that worse, I want them to grow together. They both promise me but even that seems halfhearted in the crushing place and time we're in. Oh well, I tried.

Once they have to leave with almost panicked, desperate faces and the door is shut in their faces, my next visitors are not really that surprising at all; the Hawthornes. Well…the Hawthornes minus Gale. I'm sure he wanted to say goodbye to me but it's far more important for him to be with Kat right now. I know he will miss me so he needs to be with her. They all hug me and once the guard comes to get them all but Rory turn towards the door with frowns. I'm confused until he surprises me by quickly kissing my cheek, my cheeks blushing at the contact.

I barely have time to understand what just happened as Rory runs out the door before Gale walks in, looking back to his brother first with a confused expression before it softens when it turns to me. I instantly run to him and hug him for dear life, Gale being like the big brother I never had for all these years since Kat met him. He doesn't say anything, just hugs me back. After a minute I know we probably don't have much more time so getting a little out of the embrace I motion for him to lean down so I can whisper in his ear. It's important and I need to know he'll do what I want before I go away.

Once I whisper into his ear he freezes, probably because he didn't realize I knew or this is what I want. I wait for him to look at me before I say anything else.

"Promise?" I ask in a normal tone. He has to, it's probably the only thing I've ever asked of him. I know it would happen anyway but I need to know for sure if I'm not coming back. He hesitates though I don't know why but sighs and nods.

"Promise." Gale assures me just as the peacekeepers come to get him. I half panic because I'm pretty sure Gale is my last visitor but I guess that's alright. I'm going into the Hunger Games and there isn't anyone that can save me.

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Numb. I'm so numb and she's only been gone for a week. My little Prim, in the Capitol as a tribute for the Hunger Games. The Quarter Quell. The one stupid Games I couldn't save her. I couldn't do anything but cry and try to keep myself together.

I know she made mother and I promise to try to get along. I'm trying, I really am but…it's so hard. Mother's not really doing a great job either, but at least she hasn't become that almost dead state like she was when my father died. Yet. It also doesn't help that possibly the one person in the entire district that doesn't look at me with that awful pity is in those horrid dark mines six days a week, unable to be with me as I struggle to keep myself together. It certainly helps to hunt after school like always, but though I've done it alone most of the time for almost a year I can feel the crushing loneliness tenfold in this past week.

The Tribute Parade was it's own kind of awful because with all the tributes being only thirteen made watching it a struggle. Twenty three of these poor barely teenagers, most of them frightened out of their wits (understandable so) will be dead. It was also probably the first time in a long while there weren't any volunteers, even from the Career districts. Maybe even the Careers are scared too though they hide it better than most. Prim and the Seam boy with her make a statement just like last year with this new stylist District 12 has in a suit that makes her look like coal burning. She smiles sweetly and the Capitol goes crazy, awing and blowing kisses.

I hate them all, but at least it might get her sponsors. They call her the Angel on Fire, my sweet little Prim taking away most of the attention from really any of the tributes aside from the Careers who despite being young, are still Careers. Even though she only got a four in training, the highest score was an eight so it's really not as bad as it seems. Or at least that's what I tell myself.

The interview tonight with Ceaser was hard to watch just because she's so little and doesn't belong there, but she had the audience almost sad for her. In a white dress that when she twirled turned into flames and a golden headpiece on her head almost like a halo, I could tell that her stylist was taking the Angel on Fire thing seriously. But I didn't care. It could only help her.

With the Games beginning tomorrow, I know I won't be able to sleep. In fact, I don't even try. Once mother is lying in her bed facing the opposite direction as me I quietly slip out and go on the porch of our shack of a Seam home, knowing it isn't wise to go into the woods at night whether the fence is on or not. To my surprise, I'm not alone.

"Hey Catnip." He greets me in a low tone, not even bothering to turn around from where he's sitting on the steps. Slowly shutting the door behind me, I make my way over towards the steps and silently sit next to him, not even bothering to return the greeting.

I don't think he expected one anyway as he doesn't seem offended and doesn't speak anyway, just keeps looking up towards the sky where the stars are visible in this rare clear night sky in our district; normally the clouds and pollution from our mines block most of them but not tonight. With a sigh I look down to my lap, and in moments his arm slips around my shoulders in a comforting way. Dropping my guard and desperate for comfort, I bury my face into his shoulder as my arm wraps around his waist. We sit like that for a long time, not bothering to speak. There aren't any words to say anyway so what's the point?

Only when the sun begins to rise do I finally stand up, knowing that no matter how much I need him to stay he has to go to the mines. He's already sacrificed a night of much needed sleep for me, I don't want to take anything more from him even if I greedily want and need it. Knowing he has to leave as well, he gently kisses my temple before giving me one last quick supportive squeeze before walking groggily towards the mines, where he will have to work on no sleep and most likely worry for Prim until the mandatory viewing of the beginning of the Games.

Sighing again as I watch him walk away until I can't see him anymore, I get up but stop when someone catches my eye. Peeta Mellark, with a package in his hands. It's enough to freeze me where I am as I watch him slowly come up my steps, trying to hand me the package.

"Here." he finally breaks the silence with, trying to make me take what must be bread from him. Again. But I can't do it; I don't want his pity and I already owe him so much from the first time. Without speaking I shake my head, meeting his blue eyes that watch me before I squeeze mine shut and turn around, going into my house and shutting the door.

I don't need gifts or pity. I don't want to owe him more because of his pity. All I want is for my little sister to come home alive and none of that is going to help me in the least.

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It's the sixth day of the third Quarter Quell, and Prim is still miraculously alive. I say miraculously because not only did I honestly believe even if I didn't want to (and I think Prim did too), I thought she was a bloodbath for sure. The arena seems to be made for District 4, all the plates being surrounded by water. I thought she was a goner from the moment I saw it. Because while Katniss can swim and she in turn taught me, neither of us ever bothered to teach our younger siblings. Not only because we haven't really taken them in the woods with us much before, but because we thought they wouldn't ever need to know. Not in District 12.

But being Prim, she found a way around it, a way to live. She's possibly the sweetest, most well liked person in the entire district, so it shouldn't have surprised me that she could easily make allies. Including District 4, who while the girl swam easily towards the Cornucopia, the boy instantly turned towards the plates that held his real allies, Prim and the two from District 8. The District 4 boy pulled Prim to safety on the jungle opposite the Cornucopia before turning back to aid his other two allies from District 8. The girl from eight died unfortunately from a spear thanks to one of the real Careers, but the rest of their alliance made it out fine, with weapons courtesy of the District 4 girl.

The District 4 boy, Marshall, got injured on the second day from some horrible Gamemaker twist but Prim fixed him up with what little supplies they had and he lived. To my surprise and Katniss's, Prim and Marshall flirted with each other, clearly in what could only be called puppy love. It's especially odd for a Hunger Games for there to be a love story, but by the number of sponsor gifts their alliance has been showered with I'm sure it sucks in tons of sponsors. It wasn't until Prim blushed when two days ago Marshall kissed Prim's cheek that Rory couldn't bear to watch anymore. Poor kid, he can't catch a break. I think the only person it wasn't obvious to that Rory liked Prim was Prim. Not that I can't relate to something very similar, but at least she's not in the Games.

On the fourth day when it was down to eight tributes, their alliance of four, three Careers, and the boy from District 5, the reporters came to District 12. Katniss was definitely not enthused about doing an interview but she did well despite that. You know, once she actually opened up and talked about her true almost motherly love for her little sister. Mrs. Everdeen was forced out of bed by Katniss to do an interview, having only watched on their television screen at home since the Games began and barely moving from the house. I know it frustrates Katniss to no end, but I can't find it in myself to chaste her. I would be angry too.

Now it's the sixth day, and Prim just got injured. She tried to stay out of the fight with the Careers but Marshall got hurt and she panicked, picking up a weapon she didn't really know how to use and trying to fight. The District 1 boy grinned almost wickedly as he slashed through her stomach, drawing blood. Katniss went white at the sight and shrieked in horror.

So did Marshall. Once he finished off the District 1 girl, he immediately stopped fighting and came to Prim's side, holding her hand. Prim gave him a small smile before stroking his cheek, trying to comfort him.

"Damn it Prim, you're going to be fine." Marshall almost cries, but Prim just gives him a sad smile.

"I'm not." Prim whispers quietly, and Katniss wimpers. "Go before they come back." She orders, but Marshall refuses. She sighs and shoves him as hard as she can to go, but it's hardly anything. "Please. Win for me. Tell my sister and mother I'm sorry and I love them when you get to 12 on the Victory tour."

"Prim…" Marshall cries, but he's shoved aside roughly as the District 2 boy pushes him over, knocking him out.

Terrified now and gasping for Marshall, Prim looks up to the boy with a wicked, almost evil face.

"So Angel on Fire huh?" he taunts her, poking her already bleeding torso as she gasps at the pain. "I wanted you from the beginning. No one from poor little District 12 should have stolen all the sponsors and attention."

"I didn't mean to." Prim gasps, "Please, we can…work together. You're hurt, I can fix you." She looks up to him with her desperate, pleading eyes.

"Sorry, I don't work that way." The District 2 boy spits, and before she can even react a spear goes through her heart and Katniss screams in agony, collapsing to the ground in the middle of the square.

Before the cannon even sounds, I glance up to find the mayor looking at me, nodding with a sad sigh. Gently picking up the agonized Katniss on the ground and holding her bridal style as she clings onto me, her arms around my neck as she buries her face into my chest, without a word I slip out of the crowd and half run with her to the fence, to our woods. I had only stopped short of begging the mayor to turn off the fence for when this happened, because we all knew it would. I knew Katniss would want to be away from everyone and the woods were the best place to be. The mayor understood completely and had no problem with it though it was illegal just like almost everything else we do that he condemns.

Besides my desire to give Katniss what she needed when this horrible and utterly predictable moment came, I had a promise to keep. I promised Prim I would take care of her sister no matter what and I'm not about to disrespect her last wish no matter what.


	3. The Aftermath

If I thought I felt numb before, it was nothing compared to this. I'm drained. Drowning in misery and pain and loss of the only person I was certain I loved. I can't bear to do anything on my own at all; not eat, not sleep, not anything. Like my mother.

No. I refuse to turn into her of all people. She's just as bad as when my father died right now. Worse in fact, because instead of at least getting up and sitting in a chair I don't think she's even left her bed in three days. Two miserable days since it happened. So while I can feel myself turning into her, knowing that I should try to help her I don't. Most of it has to do with Gale who has skipped work despite the fact that we all know he needs to be there, just to be there for me. I absolutely hate that I need the help but in a way it doesn't feel like it. Because it's Gale; somehow my weaknesses don't feel like it around him. He doesn't treat me too differently, just gives me exactly what I need without even having to ask. Forces me to eat because he won't let me wither away. She wouldn't want that so I do it. For her.

He comes next to me in silence, sitting on our rock where I've been most of the day, curled up and staring out into the distance. I still have no clue how the fence has no electricity during the Games, especially mandatory viewings but I can't complain about that. I feel the need to be here by myself and occasionally with Gale, trying to wrap my head around everything. Trying to figure out what I'm going to do because I really couldn't tell you what that could be. But I do know one thing from the few times I've been at my home.

"I can't do it." I croak out, my voice rough from disuse and sobbing for the past few days. I don't look anywhere but the distance like I was already, but I can feel his eyes boring into me. Desperately trying to figure out what it is I can't do, because to be honest, it's a lot at this point.

"What?" he questions me after a minute, his tone guarded. He must think it's really bad, and in a way it is. But despite the promise I made I don't think I can actually do it.

"She…asked me and mother to…take care of each other. And she's…worse than when he died." I get out finally, burying my face into my hands. I feel his arms wrap around my shoulders and I sigh, leaning into his comfort. At least if my mother can't help me someone can.

"He won you know." Gale breaks the silence with after a while. "Marshall."

Good to know someone can keep their promises to her.

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"You have to go back to school Katniss. We can't cover for you anymore, the Games are over." Darius warns me at Greasy Sae's station the day after the Games ended. Three days since I lost her. I slowly put down the soup cup that Greasy Sae was forcing me to eat and look up at the normally joking and cheeky young peacekeeper, who now is more serious than I've ever seen him before.

And as much as I would like to just do this, not go to school, go in the woods all the time whether I hunt or not, just come to the Hob for somewhere to be other than my home where my mother is just a ghost of a person, I know he's right. I'm honestly surprised that I haven't gotten into trouble yet, though I hadn't really thought that through until now. It must have been because the peacekeepers that frequent the Hob like Darius have been covering for me at the mandatory viewings. I owe them so much for that, and I don't want Darius to get in trouble because of me so I nod slowly.

"Okay." I barely whisper. Instead of giving me the look of pity I'm sure he wants to, he gives me a goofy smile and goes back to the other peacekeepers.

School, however, is its own kind of awful. If I thought the pity I would get just in the district was bad, it's nothing compared to this. I had always stuck to myself aside from Madge sitting with me and us both in silence, but I had never had the looks I receive the day I go back to school. If learning about mindless, horrible coal wasn't bad enough, now I have this. Poor Katniss, the girl who lost her little sister to the Games. I can't stand it. Thank goodness tomorrow is a Sunday because I don't really know if I could handle another day of this in a row yet.

Honestly I don't know if I ever will.

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When she hadn't come by sunrise I left a note at our place and went to check the snare line. I'm a little surprised she wasn't there yet since I'm pretty sure she'd been in the woods basically all day since Prim died, but maybe she…well I don't know to be honest. And as much as I want to wait for her, we need food. Between skipping work that day and the Games I haven't eaten myself in two days, making sure that everyone else eats first even if it's not a lot at all. Despite her still being in a depression of sorts, I know she'll understand. This is about survival.

Even when I come back to our spot about two hours later with a gamebag filled with three rabbits and two squirrels, she's still not there. The note I left hasn't left it's place and I start to get worried. Where is she? She definitely should be here by now. Did she get into trouble or something? I know Darius said that he and a few other peacekeepers were going to make sure she didn't get in trouble for not being at the mandatory viewings, but did someone else find out? God I hope not, she has enough to deal with as it is.

Luckily I don't have to wait very long though, because not five minutes later she comes through the bushes, an expression on her face that for once I can't read. For some reason it makes me nervous but I couldn't tell you why.

"Hey Catnip." I greet her, studying her carefully for any sign at all of what she's thinking. She doesn't answer, just comes over and grabs my hand before pulling me back towards the bushes, back towards the district. Once she trusts that I'm following her she lets go and stalks ahead. She's angry, that's for certain. I'm sure depression is in there too, but the anger is evident now. And an angry Katniss can't be good for whoever is on the other end of it. I hope it's the Capitol, but if it was only that she'd probably be ranting like I always do, not leading me to some unknown location. But at least she's taking me with her; I can always stop her from doing something stupid that way.

Or at least I can try.

"Where are we going?" I finally ask her, my curiosity finally taking over the sense that I should just let her do whatever it is she wants to do no questions asked. She stops and looks at me for a minute before answering.

"Visiting." She finally answers me. I quirk an eyebrow in response, a million questions running through my head that I don't voice. Once she's satisfied that I'm not going to question her further right now she turns around again and goes on. More out of protectiveness than curiosity now, I follow her still. Something tells me she needs protecting from herself.

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Another year without a Victor. Another year where two dead kids come home. I don't know why it surprises me, makes me feel this guilty now of all years. It's not like I've really tried at all most of the time.

Oh right, I actually did try this year. I did care because that little girl wanted to go home so badly, wanted to try. She wasn't worth much in the fighting department but damn Cinna convinced me that we could make her memorable. We could make the Capitol hate her death and remember her.

The Angel on Fire they called her. The angel part was true, she looked like a townie but she was from Seam. Sweet girl too. Lead me to this; wasted beyond recognition. There's only two things I can get out of it; one, she's definitely memorable, and two, thank god that kid won who had a little crush on er. Makes remembering her far easier. Maybe it will be the beginning of the rebellion we need, a horrible death of someone who shouldn't have died. Should have never been in the damn Games in the first place.

Somewhere in my wallowing and drinking I hear a bang on the door and for some stupid reason decide to answer it. The moment I do I'm punched in the face, the knock more surprising than hard. But I'm not actually mad. I probably deserve it anyway. Looking up to who my attacker was I find a Seam girl, around sixteen I'd guess and a young man maybe ten feet behind her just watching, a smirk gracing his face at the scene. I don't know her, what is she doing knocking me around? I stare at her again and then I realize who she probably is. Got my ears talked off about her enough before the Games.

"The sister I'm assuming." I slur more than I meant to. She nods, a glare in her eyes.

"You didn't save her!" she screams at me, the pain evident in her every feature and voice despite the anger. Even I can tell that and I'm wasted out of my mind. But taking it out on me isn't really the right thing to do. Studying her, I realize that she could be just what we need. She's got the attitude and the anger for sure. The motive too.

"I tried." I protest, waiting for her reaction. She doesn't even hesitate to yell back.

"You should have tried harder! She was just a little girl, she didn't deserve it, you-"

"No one deserves it sweetheart! No one." I yell back to her. It seems to shock her into at least not yelling back at me right away so I continue. "It's what we have to do. If it's anyone's fault it's the damn Capitol's!"

It's treason what I'm saying, and I know I could get in a shit ton of trouble for yelling it so close to I'm sure the bugs or cameras in my house. I shouldn't say that at all unless I'm in a safe room or the woods beyond the fence but she needs to calm the fuck down. And frankly, if I gave a shit what they did to me I wouldn't have done half the stuff I do. I got nothin left to lose anyway.

"I know that." She seethes and I study her again as she glares at me, the young man in the background still silent, taking in the scene. I vaguely recognize them from the Hob. They're the hunters, the ones who go past the fence daily and trade game. They're already rebels in a way so it's really not that different at all.

"You and you." I point to each of them. They quirk their eyebrows and wait for me to say something for once. "Ya wanna feel better sweetheart?" I question her and she nods, the questioning glare never leaving her eyes. "Then yelling isn't the answer. The answer is helping to stop this madness."

"With what?" the boy asks and after a swig of alcohol I look straight to sweetheart's face.

"Revenge on the Capitol of course." I answer. The boy smirks and I can already tell he's on board but she still looks at me.

"How?" she asks, clearly guarded but willing to do it. Anything for her dead sister I guess. That's the motive I'm lookin for.

"You two meet me outside the fence at dusk in the weak area closest to Victor's Village. We'll talk there."


	4. The Rebellion

"Do you regret it?" Gale asks me while my back is turned away from him, studying the only thing I brought here from District 12 of her's. A blue ribbon, one that she often wore in her hair the same color as her sapphire eyes. I can't bring myself to do anything with it besides caress it every night, let alone wear it. Not that I'd be able to wear it anyway in this place.

When Haymitch Abernathy first told us that District 13 existed and offered for us to be rebels sent there I didn't believe him. He was the town drunk, he didn't save my sister from her awful fate in those horrible Games. Why should I have believed him? But over time he proved himself, showing us the hidden bunkers not only in the woods behind his house but the hidden room inside of the mayor's home. Madge telling me the true meaning of her golden pin, the one with a mockingjay on it. The videos and notes and plans from District 13 which apparently exists. It didn't fall off the face of the Earth like the Capitol has had the country believe, it survived underground with its own nuclear weapons and building up an army. An army to fight in a rebellion to overthrow the Capitol once and for all, take down it's dictator under the guise of a President.

He wanted us, Gale and I, to be rebels and go to District 13. He claimed I could be a great help to the rebels, the sister of the Angel on Fire to remind them of how cruel the Hunger Games can be, to take away someone so innocent and special. I could remind them and she could be a martyr, the symbol of the rebellion. A reason why we should fight and bring the Capitol down.

Gale, and if I'm going to be honest, I, had no problem with this. In fact, Gale was thrilled. For so many years he had ranted on and on about the cruelties of the Capitol and experienced firsthand the hardships of the deep, dark mines. To have an opportunity to end all of it would be like a dream come true for him. But me, I hesitated. Of course I wanted to bring down the Capitol and get my revenge for Prim, but I wasn't entirely confident in how helpful I could be. I wasn't someone that was good with words at all, and I most definitely didn't want to talk about her. Not to cameras, not to anyone really if I'm being honest.

Besides the fact that leaving for District 13 would have its own slew of problems. There was the fact that what on earth did he expect us to do, just pick up and leave? The peacekeepers and the Capitol employees would notice, the foreman would know Gale was missing and the school would know I was. The only thing they would think and correctly, is that we had taken off to the woods. They'd catch us so fast we wouldn't know what to do. There was also the fact of our families. If we just left, they would question them, torture them even for information of our whereabouts and when we left or where we were going. Not that would actually tell my mother anything and she probably wouldn't be out of her horrible phase to answer anyway, but still. There was still Gale's family that could easily have it the worst.

Haymitch, however, assured us that he had a plan that took care of all of that. The mayor would cover for us until our families could be brought to District 13 as well, which he assured us could be within a week of us departing. He would look after them personally for us until that happened. I didn't quite trust him but since my mother wasn't even bothering to look at me when I tried and wouldn't eat or do anything I figured it couldn't be too bad. It's not like he could do any worse than I am. I feel so terrible that I'm not keeping Prim's promise to get along with my mother but it's not like she's doing a great job of it either. In fact, she's never even bothered to try.

And so here we are in District 13 on the day of the beginning of the Victory Tour. We've been here for four days and it's definitely taken some adjusting to being underground almost constantly, to the dull grey uniforms, to the printed schedule on our wrists each morning. There aren't a ton of people here yet to help but apparently they are all trying to come today. Victors, Marshall (who will distract in our very own District 12 until he himself can escape with his mentor Finnick Odair and Haymitch as well as anyone else they can bring), our families, every important person in the Capitol that can. I haven't been told specifics of the plan but it has to work. I know it has to.

But do I regret coming here, leaving my mother, school, everyone and everything behind? I don't know. But I have to at least seem like I know I made the right choice. I don't miss the district but I do feel guilty for leaving my mother if only because Prim wouldn't have wanted that.

"No." I finally answer him quietly, looking up from the blue ribbon to find him studying me. But he sees through me like he always does, like I'm just a piece of glass. He doesn't even ask before embracing me in his arms and pressing a gentle kiss to my temple before burying his face in my hair, giving me all the comfort and support I need. It's enough for me.

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"Katniss stay with me! Please!" I faintly hear Gale's voice beg me before his lips press to mine. It's the only thing I can faintly feel at the moment as the edges of blackness take over, the searing pain from the pod that I was stupidly too close to here in the Capitol streets knocking me to the ground.

It's rather new, our relationship developing the way it has. Once the plan came into action and almost everyone successfully got to District 13, I think he was just so relieved that his family was safe and we didn't make a horrible mistake that he didn't think, just kissed me. I was in utter shock, it was the only thing I'd felt besides guilt or anger or sadness since the Quarter Quell began, with the reaping. He was clearly embarrassed but didn't take it back. I honestly didn't know what I felt at my best friend kissing me in front of everyone but I didn't exactly _hate_ it.

Well, almost everyone. There were about twenty people besides the Hawthornes that smartly followed Haymitch, Finnick, and Marshall off the stage from District 12 during the complete chaos that ensued after whatever it was they did during Marshall's speech, but my mother was not one of them. Haymitch even looked regretful when he told me of my mother's suicide, but I couldn't make myself feel almost anything but unsurprised. I felt guilty for not keeping my promise to Prim but I was unsurprised. If she really loved me she wouldn't have gone away like that the first time with Dad, let alone go into that state with Prim where I was at least trying. But she was still my mother though she didn't act like it. I failed my promise to Prim, that's what I felt horrible about the most.

But Gale made promises to Prim too, that day that she left for those horrible games. He promised to take care of me no matter what, to tell me that he loved me. He told me with red cheeks that he had no idea how she had known about that but he was going to do his best to keep his promises. At least one of us could, and I let him. Selfishly it wasn't only because of that promise for him to keep as the months went by, but I decided that even if I couldn't keep my own promise to her she would want me to be happy. And I wasn't sure if I could do it, because Gale was my best friend and I never wanted any of that before. But I couldn't deny that once I tried it wasn't too bad.

The rebellion went on, Gale and I side by side with everything just like always and even more than I expected; the training, the propo (to which he wasn't allowed to be on camera as I spoke of Prim but he was behind it watching me watch him the entire time, the only reason I got through it if I'm being honest), the squad we're on, and the one that still embarrasses me at times, at night in bed in our own room. We haven't done anything yet, but it's somehow strange to be sleeping in his arms instead of with Prim in mine. It's weird, but I still like it. He makes me feel safe somehow, wards off a lot of the nightmares I constantly have about Prim, my father, everyone.

And being side by side is no exception here at the almost end of the war, with our squad and going through the streets taking out pods so that we can get to the mansion that holds that devil of a man Snow where he cowers waiting for the inevitable. I wanted to kill him personally but I'm apparently not important enough for that. It would either be Coin or Marshall as the spokesman of the rebellion that gets the honor. Marshall claims with a smile that he would gladly give me the honor if he gets it but I know it's futile. Coin will do it herself.

But then I have to be too close to that pod and Gale has to watch me die. Because I have to be dying, right? I'm fading fast, and Gale would not be acting like this if I wasn't. He would be strong for me at least if I wasn't dying.

And I think, well would dying really be that bad? Prim is gone, Dad is gone, even mother is gone. They all left me here on earth alive to fight a battle for them. It would be so easy to just die, leave everything behind and be with my whole family. But what I do have still, is it worth staying for?

Hazelle and the kids, who brought me in as one of their own a long time ago, Hazelle being more of a mother to me than my own. Even more so back in District 13 when I had no one left of my own, they truly became my family. Madge, my one I guess you could call friend at school who I have become even closer to since she came to District 13 with her mother. The life I could have once this rebellion is over, the satisfaction that Snow is dead, the Hunger Games are over, that everyone can live how they choose. That I can go hunting without the threat hanging over me that I could get caught and die every single day.

And Gale. Can I really leave him of all people?

No. I have to fight the darkness that is beginning to crush me. Fight for my life like I have daily since if I'm honest, was born in the Seam. Fight because I need him and he needs me.

I can't let the darkness take over. I have to stay alive. Truly live.

She would want that too.


	5. The Living

When I wake up, the first thing that registers even before I open my eyes is the pain. I'm certain that wherever I am that this pain is undoubtedly coming from whatever that pod was in the street, but the way my body is aching tells me that probably far more time than a few minutes has passed since I blacked out. But there's only one way to find out, so I slowly open my eyes.

Another pain registers, the light blinding my eyes instantly and my vision slowly fades to normal as I blink and try to take in where I am. Certainly not on that street anymore in the Capitol, that's for sure. Though the light isn't the sun either, it's more like the lights in District 13, the fluorescent lighting I'd guess. Other than the one above my head though it seems dark, and glancing around the room to a window I see that it's nighttime. I've been out for hours then? It was I think mid-afternoon when that pod hit me.

And to my relief, Gale is slumped over in a chair on the opposite side of the room as the window, the chair drawn up close to my bed here in what must be a hospital. Though I need answers, I don't want to wake him quite yet, feeling the need to figure out as much as I can on my own right now. I'm hooked up to machines which only resolves once and for all that I'm in a hospital, though I can't read what they're trying to tell me. My arms and I think just from the feel most of my torso is covered in bandages, but I can't really feel my hands for some reason. Which would explain why I didn't register until now that Gale is holding one of them as he slumbers.

Testing them, I'm relieved to find that they have just fallen asleep and I haven't lost the ability to move my hands in whatever happened to me, and as the tingling sensation as I shake the hand not being help indicates that my feeling is coming back, I squeeze Gale's hand that is holding mine. It takes him a minute, but when he wakes up he first looks to be in a panic but relaxes and is clearly relieved to see me awake again. Bringing a gently hand to my head and pushing back a strand of hair before leaving it on my cheek, we just take in each other before I try to speak.

"What happened?" I croak out much to my surprise. I mean I know I haven't really talked in a few hours but this is ridiculous.

"You got hit with a pod. It knocked you out and burned a lot of you, some type of bug that burst into flames with whatever it came in contact with. You also hit a building from a blast." Gale tells me in a quiet voice, clearly in pain just from telling me. Looking down I actually see hints of the burns and can feel them now that I know they're there, but they don't seem too horrible.

"It doesn't hurt much." I comment still in a croaky voice. Well, not as bad as I thought it would by the way he describes it.

"Well it's been a while." He mutters, his thumb gently rubbing my cheek.

"How long? What did I miss?" I ask. Did they already get to Snow? Did we have to retreat? Where is everyone else?

"It was almost three days ago." He informs me and my eyebrows shoot up in surprise. No wonder my burns don't hurt as bad as I thought. They must have mostly treated them by now. But…three days?

Once the shock registers on my face and I get out of it a little, I study Gale even more thoroughly. He has bags under his eyes and his face is a mixture of pain and worry, obvious even under the immense relief that I'll be alright. And suddenly I realize that he probably hasn't left this room since then. That he's probably been at my side for three days without me even knowing.

A feeling I can't quite describe washes over me instantly, overtaking me. But it's not bad, just…different.

"What did I miss?" I ask him eventually. Or more than likely, what did _we_ miss.

"Snow surrendered yesterday and his execution is planned for tomorrow." Gale informs me and I slightly nod. It shouldn't surprise me really, but I'm sort of shocked that he actually surrendered. He didn't seem like one to give up. More like someone who would leave the Capitol all together to save his own life, but maybe he didn't have an escape. You never know. Though I'm thrilled that revenge for Prim is finally coming even if I won't be the one that delivers it. Not that I really think anyone will let me out of this hospital by the time of the execution anyway.

"Good." I give him a small smile and he returns it with a weak one. I can still see how much I apparently put him through and guilt overwhelms me instantly. "Gale-" I begin, but I'm cut off by a nurse coming in. When she looks up from her chart she instantly seems surprised to find me alert, but quickly hides it and gives me a warm smile.

"Glad to see you're up and about." She chirps before silently checking my machines, my burns, messing with something on a table filled with doctor things before injecting something into the bag of whatever I'm attached to.

"Any idea of when I can get out of here?" I question her as she goes about her work. I know it's hoping against hope, but I'd really like to be at that execution. And while Gale would usually be right with me in sneaking out, I suspect that he's going to keep a close eye on me so I _don't _leave this time. Sometimes his protectiveness can be annoying but I get the point.

"It will depend on how you're healing goes, but most likely in two or three days I'd say." She smiles at me. I nod with a weak smile and I think she takes it as I'm relieved it's that soon though I'd rather it be like…well now would be nice. "Don't worry dear, you two can leave here sooner than you think." She pats my hand that Gale isn't holding with a warm smile before leaving.

"Any chance I can do it myself?" I break our silence after a while. It comes out like a weak joke, but I'm half serious. Gale chuckles lightly, but his heart really isn't in it. He knows exactly what I want to do and would gladly give it to me if he could. But I know the answer before he even says it.

"Not a chance in hell, I'd say." He replies, but he looks more bitter about it that I thought he would. Or maybe it's something else.

"What is it?" I question him. He doesn't answer me at first, looking down and not meeting my gaze. With a sigh I place my hand on his cheek and turn his face to me, my wide eyes questioning him. He shakes his head slightly but I'm not letting him get away with it. "Gale…"

"It's…nothing." He finally replies, looking almost…bashful? But the pain is back in full force in his eyes and I immediately feel the need to comfort him though I still don't know what.

"It's not." I protest, waiting for him to finally tell me what's going on. He's silent for a few minutes, but eventually says something that almost surprises me.

"So what are you going to do now that your revenge is almost complete?" he asks me quietly. To anyone else it would seem like he was just curiously asking me, but I know better. There's an edge to his voice, one filled with pain and dread.

I sigh. "I don't know. Go back to 12 with you I guess." His eyes find me, surprise clear in them before he settles into an almost vague expression. Geez, what did he think I was going to do? I don't know what else.

"Can you?" he questions me frankly and understanding fills me. He thinks that I have nothing left to go back to 12 for. My poor Prim is gone, my revenge on Snow almost complete. My father died long ago, and my mother not that long ago. He thinks that since I don't have anything left in life driving me forward that I would be suicidal, as painful as it is for him to even think of it. But doesn't he know? That I would never do that to him? That Prim and my father and probably even my mother would have wanted me to _live_?

Instead of answering, I do it our way; with no words at all. Leaning in and gently pressing my lips to his, I pour every bit of sympathy and apology and understanding and yes…I guess you could call it love into that kiss. It doesn't end for a while but neither of us seem to mind, and once it does his eyes find mine with clear understanding and all I can do is give him a small smile. Because that's all I can do at the moment.

Live and let go.

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"Prim!" I yell, but it's not in fear like it was at the reaping so long ago. It's to call her to me because she's late…like always. In the woods naturally.

"Coming!" I hear a voice call back lightly, a hint of agitation in it from being called back home. A few minutes later her quiet footsteps can be heard as she appears in the clearing of the meadow of District 12, a thirteen year old girl small for her age but for all the world the most beautiful girl I can imagine. Those sapphire eyes meet mine, shining in the setting sun as she smiles brightly to show me her latest achievement, a set of rabbits.

Kissing her temple and putting my arm around her shoulder to walk her home, I listen to her idly chat about her latest adventure in the woods. It's funny because she doesn't have the golden blonde hair nor the shyness of her namesake, but I can still see it in her every so often. How she's most definitely a hunter like her parents but she oddly enough has no trouble with medicine like her aunt. How she's stubborn as hell most of the time but can still be the sweetest person you will ever meet, everyone who comes across her adoring her.

How in her shining eyes I realize that though I lost the person I loved most to the Hunger Games, she never truly left. She's in my heart forever, her name and stories not hidden in our household but remembered. How her niece has the same exact eyes that remind me of her constantly. How I lived and loved because she would have wanted me to, not to collapse in despair.

I never wanted kids or a husband or any of it. And sometimes I'm still irrationally terrified that my children will be reaped for the Hunger Games like my dear little sister was, but life is better now despite losing so much. The fence that once surrounded the district is still there, but it's never turned on, and going into the woods is no longer forbidden. There are no Hunger Games, there are no whippings or gallows or cruel deaths. Peacekeepers are more just to regulate crime here and there, not to terrorize.

While Coin fell ill and died a few months after the rebellion (Gale suspects foul play but no one knows for sure), the presidents since the rebellion ended almost fifteen years ago have been kind, elections being held Panem wide every five years. Food and safety are no longer as much of an issue, though we still hunt more because we enjoy it. And families have become larger due to all of it. Including mine.

Prim would have wanted it that way, she would have loved that I remember her, allowed her to be the martyr that ended all the tyranny. She'd love my daughter too if she could ever meet her.

No, my dear little sister may be gone, but she has never left my heart. And I plan to keep it that way forever.


End file.
